Payment cards, such as credit cards and debit cards, are linked to accounts and enable users to make purchases using those accounts. For example, a credit card enables a user to access a line of credit from their credit card account to make purchases; and a debit card enables a user to access their bank account and transfer funds from the account to merchants' accounts, to make purchases.
With the increasing popularity of advanced intelligent types of mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, there is a trend toward use of mobile devices in various in-store and on-line payment transactions. Purchase transactions using mobile devices, however, require use of financial information of an existing account, such as identifiers of credit or debit card accounts. For example, several different companies have introduced mobile wallet type services that allow users to pay for goods and services even at traditional brick-and-mortar type establishments via their mobile devices. However, mobile wallet type services require input of information to identify one or more of the user's credit or debit card accounts, to be used in the actual transactions. In-app purchases from a mobile device as well as on-line purchases via a browser on the mobile device or on a traditional personal computer similarly require financial account information for use by or transfer of funds to the merchant system; and in many cases, that financial account information is stored in and sent from the mobile device.
As shown by recent security breaches at major retailers and on-line shopping services, such widespread use and distribution of financial account information creates an ever increasing security vulnerability.